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"Selling a house due to separation/divorce - how does that work?"
Usually quite well for the buyer. Especially if the buyer knows about the situation.
I write from personal experience as a buyer.
Lawyer up. Quite likely marital debts will be paid off from proceeds of home sale. Selling a home due to divorce is such a personal issue and it takes an agent somewhat experienced working with divorces. The worse thing the couple could do is hire a friend of one or the other, thinking they will save money or get a deal. No one wants multiple moves, but the sooner your friend understands chances are slim to go from marital home to the next long-term home, the less disappointment they will experience.
My ex bought a new house. I can't afford to stay in the one we have. We are putting it on the market soon but not sure what I'll do if it sells and I don't have another place. It's too expensive to move twice (rental and then purchase another home.) And I'd never, ever ask a friend to put me and my kids up. Hope it works out for yours.
I've been there, when I made about $50K and my spouse nothing. I was a decent human being and let him live in the guest room for 6 months until he could afford an apartment. Otherwise, he would have had to move in with family.
I also bought a house with someone I wasn't married to (mistake). When we decided our relationship was over, we didn't have enough equity to sell the house. We found renters, rented it out, and we both moved to apartments we could afford. We made a written, signed, notarized agreement that he would kept the house, all rental proceeds and all costs associated with it. I had issues with my taxes for not reporting the income, but I provided the agreement to the IRS along with his SSN and they cleared the issue. He sold the house for a profit after many years, and I let him keep all the profit, but did have to sign closing documents. This created more issues with my taxes, but they were easily cleared up when he provided his tax returns showing he claimed all the income/profit.
It's easy if both people are adults and not emotional.
Last edited by dmarie123; 01-20-2017 at 07:02 PM..
I've been there, when I made about $50K and my spouse nothing. I was a decent human being and let him live in the guest room for 6 months until he could afford an apartment. Otherwise, he would have had to move in with family.
You were fortunate. These situations can get toxic (dangerous) very quickly. Not everyone is an A-hole, but you are in the minority of those that can tolerate tight quarters and a separation in place. Gemmom24, if there is any temper or heated exchanges, move in with friends or family. Swallow your pride, we all must accept help from others at some point. It is hard right now because you are still processing things.
My ex bought a new house. I can't afford to stay in the one we have. We are putting it on the market soon but not sure what I'll do if it sells and I don't have another place. It's too expensive to move twice (rental and then purchase another home.) And I'd never, ever ask a friend to put me and my kids up. Hope it works out for yours.
It's not unusual for the current homeowner to ask for a rentback upon sale of the house. The house sells, you stay there paying rent to the new owners until your new home closes.
RE agents deal with this stuff all the time. They should be able to make it work.
You were fortunate. These situations can get toxic (dangerous) very quickly. Not everyone is an A-hole, but you are in the minority of those that can tolerate tight quarters and a separation in place. Gemmom24, if there is any temper or heated exchanges, move in with friends or family. Swallow your pride, we all must accept help from others at some point. It is hard right now because you are still processing things.
Unfortunately, I'm over 1,000 miles away from family and have no friends with enough room for my kids and I. My ex would try to take our son if I did that anyway, saying I don't have a suitable or stable living situation for him. I think I'll be ok somehow or other. Thank you though.
It's easy if both people are adults and not emotional.
This ^^^.
Or you can spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars going through the court, in which case "neither party is going to be happy with the outcome".
Addressing the specific question, the parties agree to an asset split.....cars, houses, jewelry, life insurance cash values, pensions, furniture, etc, and debt...mortgage, CC's, car loans and any other obligations. Adults can do this quite easily and will only have to have an attorney sign it and a judge approve it.
The easiest plan with the house is that the woman stays in the marital home and pays the mortgage. She gets credit for the additional equity she has accumulated with her payments when the house is finally sold. Man finds an apartment and pays the rent. If the woman can't afford the payments, the man makes them and HE gets the equity credit. Easy stuff.
These things can be done quite simply, without emotion. Or you can fight over every dish, car, dog, and lawnmower and spend years and a fortune ending up right where you would have been if you had just been adults and more or less split things down the middle.
I've been there, when I made about $50K and my spouse nothing. I was a decent human being and let him live in the guest room for 6 months until he could afford an apartment. Otherwise, he would have had to move in with family.
I also bought a house with someone I wasn't married to (mistake). When we decided our relationship was over, we didn't have enough equity to sell the house. We found renters, rented it out, and we both moved to apartments we could afford. We made a written, signed, notarized agreement that he would kept the house, all rental proceeds and all costs associated with it. I had issues with my taxes for not reporting the income, but I provided the agreement to the IRS along with his SSN and they cleared the issue. He sold the house for a profit after many years, and I let him keep all the profit, but did have to sign closing documents. This created more issues with my taxes, but they were easily cleared up when he provided his tax returns showing he claimed all the income/profit.
It's easy if both people are adults and not emotional.
( 2nd paragraph)........." I also bought a house with someone I wasn't married to ( mistake )
Thanks for posting that.
Perhaps other posters can read that and take heed.
Seems there is another thread going on right now where the OP is trying to untangle the mess.
Hi Girl,
I have read your post. In my opinion, you should talk with a real estate professional to solve this problem.
Thanks!!
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